Choosing Joy

Recently, a friend told me "Every day, God is painting a picture of how much he loves you, if you'll just open your eyes and see it."

God has confirmed his love for me

In a full rainbow in the midst of a terrible storm

In the extra long hug of a child

In the bright eyes of a three year old

In the sunshine

In fresh bread with butter and strawberry jam

In the love and support of dear friends...

And so much more...

From the manger to the cross...

It's beautiful right now in East Tennessee...beginning of March and 75 degrees...I was driving into work this morning and looking back over a hay field at the sunrise and thanking God for the beauty of the day.  I was enjoying listening to music on Pandora, trying to ready my spirit for the day ahead.  This beautiful string quartet piece came on and then another song started and I recognized it as a song we sang for Christmas and one I've written about before.  It was "Be Born in Me."  I was about to go to the next song, when I started listening to the words with new eyes....with Easter eyes.  

"Everything inside me cries for order...if God is pleased with me, why am I so terrified?  Help me see with Heaven's eyes.  And before my head agrees, my heart is on its knees....Holy is he.  Blessed am I."

I started welling up with tears...the realization that Mary ended up needing Jesus as much as Jesus needed her hit me. She, like all of us, had to come to a point in her life when she said, "Lord, I need you to be born in me."  Her son died on that cross for all of us, including his own mother.  And she had to accept that, accept his calling.

Every mother and father goes through this to some degree. The act of letting go so that your child can fully experience life and his or her calling must be one of the hardest things to experience as a parent.  I don't have kids, but I can already see how much my parents sacrificed their own fears and concerns so that I could become who I am.  I am amazed that they handled all of my decisions with such grace.

Another part of the song says, "Did you wrap yourself inside the unexpected, so we might know that love would go that far?"

Think about that from the perspective of the manger, to the way Jesus lived his life, and the way he died.  We didn't expect him to come that way...we didn't believe that he was the Messiah because he hung out with sinners and rode on a donkey instead of a unicorn (that's for you, Grace).  And he died between two criminals and even welcomed one of them into the Kingdom at the last possible minute.  

Jesus is unexpected.  This is true on a daily basis.  Jesus still wraps himself in the unexpected so that we might know that love will indeed go that far.  And don't we begin to understand that in our own lives...in the way we love and are loved?  We need to be loved as much as the person we love needs our love.  God desires our love while we are bankrupt without his love.  

Love travels leaps and bounds if we let it.  God's love wraps us up and allows us to experience the unexpected gift of love in the first cries of a newborn baby, in the understanding look of a friend, in the embrace of shared grief, in the sunrise over a hay field...and so much more.

Journey with me this season of reflection.  And know that you are loved.

Home

This is where I live.  This is home.  God is Creator.  Creation sings his praise.  Marvel with me for a moment.  Our God is an amazingly creative God who makes things new each day.  God has come.  God is still coming.

Carols and Such

Yesterday was a day of carols!  In the morning, we took the children's choir around to Sunday Schools classes to bring a little Christmas cheer.  Not one kids cried or tried to hide..they all sang!  That's a miracle in itself!  Even Cora, who had never practiced or done this, sang her little heart out!  During "Silent Night" she made up her own words! Kids are amazing little creatures!

Then we took a caravan around 4:30 to several places, including Darby House (assisted living home), our pastor's house, and an elderly couple's home.  We had about thirty people running around.  I'm telling you, there's nothing like it in the world...when you look around and see your friends and their kids, most of whom I have taught these carols to over the years...and the tradition continues.  They need to know these songs, the story of Jesus...and they need to see service modeled by their parents and each other.  The kids always went to the front of the crowd to sing loudly.  They sang their little hearts out.  These are things that matter. This is joy.  This is love.

Bryan and Laura had a new picture in their house and it said "Home Sweet Home."  It was simple and warm.  And it reminded me that wherever we go, we create home.  When we entered the pastor's house, it became home.  When we sang to those older people, we made home for them.  Each time I embrace a friend, they are home to me.  As I held baby Dana last night, I was home to her.

Daddy asked me Friday if I was missing home...I said, "I miss y'all."  Home is ever moving and it is a state of mind and heart.  Chris and I have home.  Donna and Jerry make home for me every time they embrace me and each time I enter their house and sit with them.

The innkeeper provided home for Joseph and Mary.  Joseph and Mary were home to each other on that night.  Jesus makes it possible to dwell within us...Jesus is home within us...and that's what makes it possible for us to be home to each other.

Thanks be to God.

A Tribute to My Family

I've been getting emotional this morning, thinking about my family and all they mean to me.  I try not to be weepy, but joy makes me cry.  My heart swells with love for them and sometimes it's just too much to keep inside.

Mama, did you know that your first born girl would one day have a baby of her own?
Did you know that your baby boy would become a daddy with two girls of his own?
Daddy, did you know that your son would learn to love just as you did?
Did you know that he would be a strong father and loving husband?
Did you know that your middle child would feel the call to teach just as you and your mom did?
Mama and Daddy, did you know that your lessons of commitment and acts of service
Would instill in your children a desire to be committed and to serve others?
Did you know that those little babies would become grown ups who truly love one another?
Did you begin to comprehend how much they would love you in return?
Mama and Daddy, did you know that the heritage of faith that was given to you
Would continue in your children and in your children's children?

We are truly blessed.

I love you all.

It's Never Over

Yesterday was a day of affirmation for me in my classroom. We learned about Saint Nicholas, the real man who lived long ago and who embodied the giving spirit.  As they watched and as we discussed the meaning of Christmas, I was able to share the real story.  We talked about how the true story made Saint Nicholas want to be generous and having a heart that saw others' needs.  

One student said, "I'm not asking for anything for Christmas, except for my Nana to get here safely from Honduras."  Other students asked for "love in my house" and "for my family to be back together."  These kids have hearts and some of them are longing for hope and restoration and love.  

Is that so different from the rest of the world?  We see so much darkness, but we refuse to step outside into the darkness to shed some light.  

Christmas is never over...it should just be the beginning...

"It's Not Over"

"It is not over,
this birthing.
There are always newer skies
into which
God can throw stars.
When we begin to think 
that we can predict the Advent of God,
that we can box the Christ
in a stable in Bethlehem,
that's just the time
that God will be born
in a place we can't imagine and won't believe.
Those who wait for God
watch with their hearts and not their eyes,
listening
always listening
for angel words."

Load to Bear

Do you ever feel like you are carrying a load?  

Do you have a burden that you are carrying for yourself or for someone else?

Has it been hard to walk your faith journey lately?  Is God calling you to go too far, or to carry more than you feel you can bear?

Think about a woman who is carrying a child for nine months.  As the child grows, her load gets heavier, breathing is more difficult, sleep becomes something of the past, and life just gets more difficult.

Mary experienced all of that.  And in the end, God called her to go further...to walk a long, hard journey when she was already carrying a heavy load.

When you feel as if you can't walk another step forward, when you want to sit down and have a melt down, when you feel like this thing you are called to bear is just too much...think about Mary.

And remember, maybe, just maybe, you are carrying Jesus with you every step of the way.  Perhaps your burden will become Jesus to you or to someone else.  Perhaps you are carrying the Light of the World...walk on.